


Water Cooler Talk

by iambjo12



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-03 05:51:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14562258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iambjo12/pseuds/iambjo12
Summary: There are some things that you can only talk about to your friends at work.





	Water Cooler Talk

“Take it off Emily,” JJ growled as she approached the shocked brunette.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

JJ had reached her co worker and her hands immediately went to the bottom of the hoodie and meant to raise it before Emily’s hands covered hers, stopping the motion. 

 

“I can’t believe you took it with you,” JJ said. 

 

“It’s my sweatshirt Jayje, what’s going on?”

 

JJ’s hands clenched the fabric over top of Emily’s chest and looked away.  

 

“I know that I’m overreacting and being a little too much like a psycho girlfriend for my liking,” JJ whispered.  Emily cupped JJ’s cheek and pulled her gently for their eyes to meet. 

 

“You know I don’t think that,” Emily replied, her soulful brown eyes looking lovingly into JJ’s cool blue ones. 

 

“I borrowed it one night after we came back to your place from hanging out with the team at the bar.”

 

“I remember, I saw it on you the next morning,” Emily replied, smiling at the memory.  

 

“I wore it home and I never gave it back, I was never going to give it back.”

 

Emily wrapped her arms around the pouting blonde and chuckled.  JJ pushed Emily away from her at the sound. 

 

“I’ll give it back to you later okay?”

 

“Cold?”

 

Emily shook her head and stepped closer to JJ again and bent to whisper in her ear.  

 

“I don’t have anything on under it.  I’ll give it to you after I kick Morgan’s ass on the track.”

 

She pulled away and took in the sight of the media liaisons blushing face, her bottom lip in between her teeth. 

 

“Then I suppose you should keep it on.”  Emily nodded. “For now.”

And with that she walked away, her hips swaying under the dark gray skirt she knew to be a favorite of her co-worker.  

 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>\m/<><><><><>

 

“I just don’t know if I’m doing things right.  I’ve never been with another woman before and I don’t want to disappoint in the bedroom.”

 

“Pen, I’m sure everything is fine.  You talked to her about it being your first time with a woman, right?”

 

“Yeah, and she’s been nothing but supportive and patient with me, which only makes me feel more guilty about the lack of my skills.”

 

JJ laughed into her coffee cup.

 

“You’re Penelope Garcia, tech goddess and supreme know all, you don’t lack in any skills.”

 

Garcia sighed.

 

“I know I could find out some things from online but that just feels so skeevy to me.”

 

“Alright, I didn’t want to have to do this until things were more established, but you know the person that I’ve been seeing?”

 

“You mean the one who you keep ditching me for?”  JJ rolled her eyes.

 

“Well, it’s a woman.”  Garcia gasped.

 

“My, my, little miss all American sure has suddenly gotten more interesting.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, Pen.”

 

“So is she your first woman too?”

 

“No, I dabbled in college, nothing serious but I know my way around.  I do want things with this woman to be serious though.”

 

“We will work on that after you help me with my problem.”

 

“Which is what exactly?”

 

“She’s quiet, I can’t tell if something works for her or not, and it makes me self conscience and we always end things before it goes...souther.”

 

“So what have you done?”

 

“Make out, grabby with her boobs, that kind of thing.  It’s all kind of spastic really.”

 

“Slow things down then.  Kiss her sensually, touch her with just your fingertips at first, trail them up and down her arms.  That kind of thing, you know?”

 

“Stop being a man about things you mean.”

 

“Exactly.  And definitely pay attention to her neck, I wouldn’t leave a mark until you guys discuss such things, but there has never been a woman in my bed who didn’t swoon from it.”

 

“Even your current mystery woman?”  JJ’s eyes gleamed. 

 

“Especially her.”

 

“What about when things do head… down further?”

 

“Honestly, I think you should take your time, get more comfortable with the idea of dating a woman.  I wish I had taken my time, not with those other girls, but with… her.”

 

“So not only does little miss perfect enjoy the company of women, but she also puts out on the first date?”

 

“Not exactly, we were at a bar together, and while it wasn’t just the alcohol, it certainly did escalate things in the physical department.”

 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>\m/<><><><><>

 

“I’m off my game Prentiss,” Morgan huffed as he bent forward with his hands pressed on his knees, catching his breath.

 

“No shit,” Emily replied, not as breathless as her partner, but almost.

 

“Not just out here.  I haven’t gotten with a woman in days.”

 

“Poor baby.”

 

“Okay, okay, weeks.”

 

“Again, I say…”

 

“It’s your fault you know, leaving me without my trusty wingman.”

 

“Take Garcia.”

 

“She’s been busy too.  So has JJ, come to think of it.”

 

“Reid then?”

 

“As a wingman?!”

 

“I could take him out and show him what to do.  He’ll get it, eventually.”

 

“Sorry, can’t wait that long.”

 

“What do you want from me?”

 

“I want my girls to take me out.”

 

“You want a corsage to go with that?”

 

“Maybe, it might make up for the three of you bailing on me every night.”

 

They made their way back to the bleachers for their drinks and Emily took her phone from her bag to send JJ a text.

 

**_Morgan’s being a bitch, needs to go out tonight.  Tell Pen? Xx_ **

 

Emily opened the top of the bottle and drank from it longingly before dousing herself with the rest.  Her phone vibrated in her other hand and she read the reply. 

 

**_Agent Prentiss, I would appreciate it if you could refrain from such language.  Where are you guys?_ **

 

Emily grinned as she threw the empty container in the recycling bin and typed out another message.

 

**_At the track, and that’s not what you said last night :P_ **

 

“Come on Princess, let’s get back out there,” Morgan called out.  She slipped her phone back into her bag and took off after her partner, easily gaining on him.  

 

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JJ smiled despite the eye roll that accompanying it and made her way to Garcia’s lair.  

 

“I think we should go for walk,” JJ said leaning against the doorframe. 

 

“Yeah, not happening cupcake,” the tech goddess replied not bothering to turn around from her computer screens.

 

“We need to go talk to our husband and wife.  They’re at the track so you know what that means.”

 

Garcia spun happily in her chair.  

 

“A very sweaty Agent Morgan hopefully without a shirt, and one can only hope for an even sweatier Agent Prentiss without hers as well.”

 

JJ rolled her eyes and turned to walk away from Garcia’s office so that her fellow blonde comrade couldn’t see the lust in her eyes that had suddenly made her cheeks very red.  She heard the distinct sound of Garcia’s heels following behind her and put on her best professional face as they made their way through the building to behind it where the track was.

 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>\m/<><><><><>

 

“Not this time Princess,” Morgan hollered out as the duo approached the finish line.  Emily didn’t bother to respond, not wanting to risk her partner knowing just how close she was behind him.  In a flash, she broke out into an even harder run, pushing herself for the last little bit that they had to go.  Both agents were so wrapped up in their friendly competition, neither noticed the blondes in the bleachers. 

 

“Oh how I love when I get what I ask for in life,” Garcia said in a drawl.  

 

JJ barely heard her friend, let alone registered the meaning of the words said out loud.  Her focus was purely on the brunette as she flew by their burly co-worker just in time for a satisfying defeat over the pissed off man.  They jogged another lap side by side, allowing their bodies to wind down after the exerted rally. 

 

“Damnit Prentiss.  I had that shit won.”

 

“You took off before I did and I still beat your ass.”

 

“Yeah, yeah.  Are we on for tonight or what?”

 

“I’ll check when we get back around.”

 

“To where?”

 

“Where my phone is in my bag, in the bleachers, dumbass.”

 

They both looked up in the stands seeing two very familiar faces watching them.  

 

“You have a teleporter in that phone of yours?”

 

Emily sped up her pace some, eager to reach at least one of the blondes.  The closer she got, the more clearly she could make out JJ’s face and damn if she didn’t want to just kiss the gorgeous blonde senseless on the spot no matter who saw them.  Morgan upped his speed as well and as they came up to the railing of the stands to where the blondes sat, she pulled herself up and through the bar, sweaty and rippling to have a seat in front them.  

 

Garcia made her way down the stairs slowly in her heels and threw Emily’s bag up at her before turning to soak in some much needed Derek Morgan time.  Emily got her towel from her bag and went to wipe the sweat from her brow but JJ’s hand encircled her wrist and she hesitated, looking to the blonde with a curious expression on her face.  What she saw staring back at her made her breathing stop. Intense blue eyes were drinking her in, full wet lips parting and closing, in time to a regular heart beat, which neither of them possessed at the moment. 

 

“I really wish we could just go back to high school for the afternoon,” the blonde finally husked out. 

 

“Ditch physics and make some chemistry with our biologies under the bleachers?”

 

“Something like that, yeah,” the blonde replied, looking into her secret girlfriend’s chocolatey eyes, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips.      

 

“It’s a shame that we have the coach and librarian watching us so intently,” Emily replied.

 

“Among other faculty strumming about here,” JJ added.  She let Emily’s wrist go and watched intently as the disheveled agent went about wiping off her face before draping the towel around her neck.  

 

“So hot mamas, drinks tonight?” Derek asked below them. 

 

“Yeah,” Emily replied, winking at the blonde before turning her attention to the needy man.

 

“Jayje?”

 

“Yeah,” she smiled at him softly.  

 

“Alright then, let’s hit the showers Princess,” he called out walking towards the building with the tech goddess on his heels.  

 

“What a fabulous idea,” JJ said grinning from ear to ear.  Emily vehemently shook her head.

 

“No, absolutely not, forget about it, do not go there Jareau,” she said rising up with her bag. 

 

“Come on Em,” JJ stood up, her body extremely close to her lover’s. 

 

“We are not having… relations in the showers at work.  Again. We damn near got caught by that snide bitch in White Collar and I so do not want to have to distract her again while you slipped out.”

 

“All you had to do was drop your towel and she was a goner.  The ass wiggle was a nice touch though.”

 

“I wouldn’t have had to do it if you weren’t still there looking on instead of leaving.”

 

“So, drinks tonight?” JJ opted for a subject change as she followed Emily back into the building.

 

“Since we’ve been... “

 

“Blowing off our other friends?” JJ offered. 

 

“Yeah that… Morgan feels as though we owe him for a night out to hopefully find him a woman to occupy himself with.”

 

“Will you be playing the role of wingwoman again?”

 

“In front of my girlfriend?  No thank you, I like having sex with her and wouldn’t jeopardize that for Morgan getting some, or really any other reason either.”

 

“Good answer Prentiss.”

 

“Yes, I have been trained well.”

 

“Any chance I can change your mind about the shower?” JJ asked hopefully as they came upon the door to the women’s changing area.

 

“You know how badly I want you though, right?” Emily answered shaking her head with a small smile. 

 

“Depends on how you plan on making it up to me I suppose,” came the blonde’s reply. 

 

“Can I offer you an old comfy sweatshirt?” Emily asked pulling the said item of clothing out of her duffle bag.  

 

“For starters,” JJ said clutching onto the hoodie. 

 

“For starters,” Emily easily agreed releasing the sweatshirt.  “How much more office stuff do you and Garcia have left?”

 

“An hour or so,” JJ answered hugging the cloth to her body, reveling in the smell of her girlfriend.

 

“Meet in the lobby then?”

 

“Sounds like a plan Agent Prentiss,” JJ said nodding and started to walk away.  Emily reached for the blonde’s hand and made the briefest contact before remembering where they were.  JJ turned around and offered the brunette a shared sympathy smile, knowing how difficult it was to watch Emily just walk away from her without an acknowledgement of their affection for one another. 

 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>\m/<><><><><>

 

“I wanna dance,” Morgan pouted at the women sitting at the table.  

 

“With somebody?” Emily asked. 

 

“Somebody that loves you?” JJ added.  

 

“Yes damnit.  Whitney Houston jokes aside,” Derek even went as far to stomped his foot.

 

“Alright fine you big, giant man baby,” Emily sighed after seeing that neither one of the blondes were going to concede.  She was really hoping Garcia would so she could have a little after work alone time with JJ but seemed as though they were in need of a pow wow of their own.  

 

“So what did you tell your mysterious lover why you couldn’t meet up with her tonight?” Garcia asked. 

 

“The truth, she was very understanding,” JJ internally chuckled seeing as how it was her ‘mysterious lover’ that had actually come to her about tonight in the first place.  Her and Em really needed to have another conversation about at least letting Pen in on their relationship. It wouldn’t be too much longer before the Oracle of Everything to start pestering her with who her girlfriend was so that she could cyber stalk their ass. 

“What about you?”

 

“Oh, the truth too.  No sense in lying about this right?  Although we do seem to ogle the two of them quite a bit,” Garcia replied as the blonde’s once again watched Morgan and Prentiss in motion.

 

_ More than you know,  _ JJ thought before clearing her throat and actively trying to tear her gaze away from her girlfriend’s body that she desperately wished she was pressed up against Em on the dance floor.  Maybe one dance wouldn’t hurt…

 

“Was she upset about it?” JJ asked. 

 

“Eh, she understood but of course wished that I was with her, or at least invited.  I just don’t think I’m ready for that yet though. I mean I did take a step in the right direction today by finally admitting it to my bestie though, right?”

 

“Definitely right direction.  I think you need to work on being more comfortable in the relationship first before you can really own up to it especially to a group of profilers.”

 

“Yeah. they would chew me up and spit me out alive if I couldn’t answer all of their questions without 100% conviction.  It’s not like I don’t think there will be any problems or anything, I just… want to go slow, like we talked about earlier.”

 

“There’s no reason to rush anything and you certainly want to be able to know what and how you feel before the interrogation starts.  You know how protective big brother is over there.”

 

“Do you think… Would the team... “

 

“Pen?”

 

“I know none of them are… homophobic, but do you think they would care about me being with a woman?”

 

“I think…”   _ God I hope not.   _ “As long as you’re treated right and are happy, they, like myself, will love you no matter whom you’re seeing.”

 

“Yeah, that was silly I know.  I mean it’s not like we’re co-workers or anything!”

 

_ Right, the other reason to not ‘come out’ to the team about us. _

 

JJ could only give her friend a small smile and take a long drink from the glass she was squeezing.  

 

“Alright, I did my part in his mope-fest.  Tag team me Pen, your chocolate thunder needs his babygirl,” Emily said huffing into her chair.  

 

“Will do sexy mama,” Garcia replied literally leaping to her feet to go to the rescue.

 

“Did you want to…” Emily trailed off as she gestured toward the dance floor. 

 

“So, so badly but…” JJ sighed. 

 

“Yeah, you’re right.”

 

“Really wish I wasn’t.”

 

The two women sat there quietly, half paying attention to their friends, half lost into their own thoughts.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had been teammates and coworkers for over three years before the night that had resulted in them going to bed together.  Learning about each other’s life’s, current and past. Interests, dislikes, opinions on all sorts of topics. 

 

Usually the get-to-know-you’s happening on the jet, creativity spilled forth one night after a particularly difficult case when Emily had snatched the paper from Rossi.  They had started to challenge one another to a debate on an article subject that was picked at random to argue the different sides of just for fun, the team jokingly referring to them as their own debate team.  Loser bought the rounds at the next outing. Judgment was ruled by Spencer, chosen because of his fairness to his love for all things factual, despite his crush on JJ. 

 

One topic had been a rather unpleasant one to debate, both of them wholeheartedly agreeing that gays should be able to marry.  Emily drew the side of against, ironic for her being a lesbian from the womb. JJ had an annoying yet sexily confident smirk throughout her presentation, spending a large portion of it mentally thinking about the assortment of items she was wanting to try from the bar that night when the team got back into town, on Emily’s dime.

 

Emily didn’t even bother with coming up with an actual argument and instead went with a joke, even though she thought it would be lost on Reid. 

 

“There are three rings when marriage is involved.  The engagement ring, the wedding ring, and suffering.  Haven’t us gays suffered enough?”

 

They were both left with their jaws dropping open in surprise when Spencer had announced Emily the winner of that particular debate.  JJ had to admit that it was pretty funny. Due to the fact that Emily was grateful for all of the wonderful things JJ had mentioned in her passionate debate for the ability for her to one day marry the woman of her dreams, the brunette offered to pay anyway.  JJ accepted understanding that Emily truly did not bring her A game to the debate, or any game other than her delightful wit and felt the need to make it right. 

 

That night, JJ worked her way through what she could of the bar’s menu of frilly girly drinks before repressed thoughts started to make their way out of her mouth.  

 

“You doing this Em, it’s shit like this that just really makes me love you.  Not the paying for me to get drunk shit but the shit where you are just so goddamn honorable.”

 

“There is no honor amongst thieves,” the profiler was leaning heavy on obscurity in response to the comments the blonde was making.  Emily stuck to straight bourbon, knowing way ahead of time that they would both being going home in cabs. 

 

The more relaxed and loose lipped JJ became, the more tense Emily did.  At some point in the evening, the blonde had foregone her own chair and spent the rest of the night on Emily’s lap, it being easier than just leaning into the brunette to support her.  

 

By the time drunken mumbles into her neck turned into kisses there instead, Emily had learned that since she had started at the BAU the liasson had had a crush on her, was purposely holding one of her sweatshirts as a hostage without wanting to negotiate out a way for it to ever be released, thought her ass looked particularly sinful in tight jeans, and was willing to do anything she wanted, except for heavy BDSM, anal, or any of the other weird shit she wasn’t willing to currently remember she had the displeasure of knowing about due to their jobs. 

 

Emily had the bartender call them a cab, brought JJ back to her apartment, and put the blonde to bed all the while being very mindful of her own actions while she let her coworker do whatever her drunken self wanted, namely her lips pressed to skin and groping through clothing.  It wasn’t until she pulled away to head for the door and JJ begged her not to leave her alone that Emily finally broke her resolve. 

 

“Damnit Jayje!  You don’t know how hard this is for me.  To have you so willing, albeit very, very intoxicatedly so, telling me all of this.  To have you touching me, kissing me… When I know, we both know that nothing can come of this.  Of us. We’ve both worked so hard to get to where we are in our careers… There is a no sleeping with co-workers clause for a reason, a few very good reasons.  Even with us both being so damn drunk that there’s a possibility of neither of us remembering it in the morning for those reasons to come to the surface.”

 

“You’re drunk?  You fucking sound like...not.  I mean, that was more words than you said all night.”

 

“Because you started with ‘I love you’ and worked your way through to anal was a no go.”

 

“If it’s the anal thing that’s keeping you from getting into bed with me, we can try it.  Like you said, there’s a chance I won’t even remember it in the morning.”

 

“You’d have a sore ass to remind you of it for the rest of the day,” Emily laughed.  

 

“Em, please.  Please at least tonight.  Let us have this one night.”

 

One night that started with fucking through the drunkenness which led to making love through until the morning turned into the coworkers starting a relationship that had carried on strongly for a year.  It left them sitting at yet another bar, this time with two of their other co-workers, as it had a multiple of times in between. 

 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>\m/<><><><><>

 

“You know what we should do?!” Garcia exclaimed and slapped drunkenly at JJ’s shoulder but still had her eyes trained on Emily at the bar, waiting on their drinks.  

 

JJ groaned and silently begged that her best friend did not want to find someone for her secret girlfriend.  She  _ so _ did not want to have to spend the rest of the night watching some random woman all over Emily and not being able to do or say anything about it.  This was exactly what she wanted to talk to Garcia about. JJ knew that they couldn’t be ‘out’ at work but that had somehow transgressed into public at all.  She didn’t know why it was that Emily seemed reluctant to be affectionate out in the world and she really wanted to talk to her best friend about it. 

 

“What?” JJ asked instead. 

 

“We should talk to Emily about our lesbo problems!” came the excited response, as if Garcia just solved the world’s most complicated crossword puzzle.

 

“What?” JJ repeated.

 

“Yeah, she’s been gay for her entire life so who better to ask about our troubles with the women folk than our own resident lesbian?”

 

_ I think I’d rather try and find my girlfriend a woman, _ JJ thought but couldn’t really force out loud.  Before she could form a gentle way of declining, Emily had made it back to their table with their drinks.  

 

“Oh Agent Prentiss,” Garcia cooed with a sly wink to JJ.  Emily also looked at JJ momentarily before looking back over at the tech Goddess.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“We need your expertise in the field of dating women, now that my Chocolate Thunder is no longer amongst us to bring us down anymore” Garcia said. 

 

“Both of you?  Congratulations,” Emily replied dryly. 

 

“As if our media liaison could handle all of this,” Garcia smacked her own ass.  JJ just rolled her eyes. 

 

“What do you need help with Pen?” Emily asked. 

 

“I’ve been seeing a woman and it has recently come to my attention,” here she shot a look at JJ who smiled back “that I should slow things down but I also really want to speed things up.  Any ideas?”

 

“In general or in the bedroom?” Emily asked. 

 

“Mostly the bedroom.  Annika is really quiet…”

 

“Annika in HR?” JJ asked, surprised and Garcia squeaked in response.  “What about not being co-workers?”

 

“We aren’t in the same department… And would it really matter anyway?  Screw Dragon Lady, right?”

 

“Yeah,” JJ whispered.  

 

“Communication is key to any relationship.  Discuss this more with Annika and see where she is in regards to everything.  Now, what’s your lesbian romance problem?” Emily asked, trying for teasing but also extremely curious as to how she was letting her girlfriend down, hoping not the bedroom as well.

 

“I… would like to be able to hold her hand in public,” JJ said quietly, not meeting Emily’s eyes. 

 

“Oh, Jayje.”  Emily cleared her throat and focused on how to have this conversation in front of their co-worker. 

 

“I get it, we’re… not exactly able to everywhere.  But sometimes we could, right?”

 

“Yes, absolutely.  I’m sure she just never realized that there was a desire to be more openly affectionate, appropriately of course.”

 

“Communication and all that?” JJ chuckled. 

 

“Exactly.”

 

“You two are so freakin’ cute,” Garcia said dreamily as she had been watching the couple.  After some sputtering and attempt at denial, she waved her hands. “Stop, of course I know.  I’ve known for a year and have to been waiting for one or both of you to sack up and tell me.”

 

“I’m actually relieved,” JJ said.  

 

“Me too,” Emily replied softly, reaching over the table to take the blonde’s hand.  JJ swooned and tightened the grip, interlacing their fingers.

 

“Aww,” Pen cooed.  “How about a toast.  Cheers to water cooler talk and communication.”

 

“Agreed,” Emily said raising her glass.  

 

“Always,” JJ said, winking at the brunette before they clinked their glasses and took a drink. 

  
  



End file.
